So the drive I was backing up a supposedly dodgy drive to has failed!

I'm an electronic engineer by trade so have tried a few things and now need some advice on next steps

The drive is:
Model: ST3000BM001
PN: 1CH166-300
FW: CC43
Site TK

I've tried
1. Swapped SATA cables with known good PC and HDD. Cables and PSU of PC eliminated
2. Put in old PC as only drive. PC reports SATA Primary Hard Disc 0 Failure but when I go into setup I can see that it has identified the HDD (ST3000DM001-1CH166) but got the size wrong (137GB)
3. Tested the TVS. Diodes and resistors ok (diode drop in one direction only, resistors all 0 Ohm)
4. Opened case and heads are parked
5. Drive spins up buzz buzz twice and then spins down. Sound file attached
6. When plugged into new PC as second drive it stops the primary drive from booting into windows and drive isn't detected in BIOS

Advice needed
1. If the HDD was identified in 2 above does this mean that the calibration and setup data on the drive may be corrupt? Is there more chance of recovery because it has been identified?
2. I initially thought it was an electronics issue due to 6 above and was going down the new PCB purchase route. Is this a good next step or are there other things to try first?
3. I've read about USB UART cables that can be used to access the drive. Is this likely to get me any useful information from the drive?
4. I've read about BSY state failures but can't identify if my drive is a 7200.11 type. Is this something I should be considering?
5. Anything else you suggest I can try before either giving up or paying a recovery service (the data isn't critical but I don't want to loose it)

Thanks for any advice you can give

If it is spinning down, it likely is dead heads, a very common issue with this drive. Assuming that it is still recoverable, send to a data recovery pro. Just don't be surprised when most labs charge a penalty for a previously opened drive. My lab doesn't do this any more as you are the one paying for the parts.

_________________
Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

It looks like I commonised on a set of drives with high failure rates.

I did see from http://www.recoveryforce.com/forums/vie ... f=12&t=157 that bad heads was a common fault.

Is there any way to find out if it is the heads before sending it in from any diagnostic codes it may set?

If your goal is to get the data off the drive, you are best to stop trying things yourself. Every time you power that drive on, you are sucking what life the drive might have left out of it.

_________________
Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery